You may already know that Tulare is No. 1. What are California's three other leading dairy counties?
California had four of the top five counties for dairy cow numbers in 2012, according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture. Tulare County had the top milk cow inventory in the nation in 2012 with 489,436 head, according to the final 2012 Census of Agriculture, released by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. Those cows were on 244 farms, with sales of $1.8 billion.
Merced County came in second in cow numbers, with 285,235 cows on 230 farms, with sales of $1.1 billion.
Stanislaus County came in third with 179,617 cows on 22 farms, with sales of $706 million.
Kings County in California placed fifth with 168,494 cows on 122 dairies, with sales of $625 million.
California was the top dairy state with 1.82 million cows on 1,554 dairy farms in operation in 2012, with total sales of $6.945 billion, according to the census.